Kyle Asche Organ Trio - Blues For Mel

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:22
Size: 145.1 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[5:56] 1. Blues For Mel
[5:57] 2. Gentle Rain
[3:50] 3. Snapshot
[5:26] 4. I Thought About You
[5:07] 5. Nite Vidual
[7:04] 6. Killer Ray
[5:58] 7. Watch What Happens
[5:37] 8. Swedish Schnapps
[5:51] 9. Too Late Now
[5:09] 10. Forget New York
[3:21] 11. Who Can I Turn To
[4:01] 12. Killer Ray (Bonus Radio Edit)

Kyle Asche: guitar; Melvin Rhyne: organ; George Fludas: drums and percussion.

Chicago-based guitarist Kyle Asche opens his sophomore release, Blues for Mel, with the set's title tune, a tribute to Melvin Rhyne, the organist who most famously played with guitarist Wes Montgomery on four stellar Riverside releases in the late fifties and early sixties. The tune is a cool Montgomery-ish ride, drenched in the organ trio tradition. Asche's licks are clean and concise. The drummer, George Fludas, accents the trio sound with finesse and subtle flourishes, a polished energy, and the organist injects an assured, sometimes percussive bounce to the sound, much in the Montgomery Trio mode. No surprise there, because the guy on the organ is the very man who accompanied Montgomery on those legendary Riverside dates, Melvin Rhyne himself. ~Dan McClenaghan

Blues For Mel

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Kyle Asche Organ Trio - Five Down Blues

Styles: Guitar Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:08
Size: 124,7 MB
Art: Front

(7:02) 1. Five Down Blues
(6:45) 2. Dorothy
(7:30) 3. Pretty Eyes
(5:28) 4. Delirium
(7:57) 5. Light, Life, Love
(5:44) 6. Never Let Me Go
(7:04) 7. Dirty Fingers
(6:34) 8. Dig Deep

It has been well documented that the Covid-19 pandemic has played havoc with the careers of the participants in the arts. The members of the Kyle Asche Organ Trio have also felt its sting. But fortunately they have a musical snapshot of the final time they made music together in March 2020, which forms the basis of this release entitled Five Down Blues. In this live eight track session, guitarist Asche along with Pete Benson on Hammond Organ and drummer George Fludas demonstrate what it means to be a "working"jazz trio.

The compositions used in this outing, in addition to a few originals and several standards, include two numbers from the pen of organist Melvin Rhyne, who was best known for his time with guitarist Wes Montgomery. The trio opens with the title track, "Five Down Blues," which has a slinky funky groove lead by Asche's fleet fingered guitar riffs. As Benson picks up the theme, he shows the expansive sound he develops on the instrument, while Fludas is musically expressive on the drum breaks. Up next is the first of the Rhyne tunes, "Dorothy," followed somewhat later by "Life, Light, Love." The first has a Latin flavour built on an ascending chord structure with an interesting balance of tempo and time. The latter is a lovely ballad in which Benson gives full measure with long drawn out notes and sly warmth. Asche works his way up and down the fretboard with a strong linear framework.

A couple of jazz icons have also contributed compositions to the recording. Pianist Horace Silver's " Pretty Eyes" and tenor saxophonist Harold Land's "Delirium," each offer a different style and tempo. On the former, there is a Latin vibe that drives a sensational melody with lyrical phrasing. Asche's guitar spins a sonic path that conveys a sense of forward motion. The latter number is an up tempo flow of single notes on which both Asche and Benson devise their improvisations, giving depth to the composition.

The closing track, an original from Asche called " Dig Deep" is an appropriate bookend to this outing. It has a melody that is filled with intimacy and rhythmic imagery that seems to impart a sense of collegiality among the members of the group. It is a fitting reminder of the attributes that sustain performing musicians. ~ Pierre Giroux https://www.allaboutjazz.com/five-down-blues-kyle-asche-organ-trio-cellar-records

Personnel: Kyle Asche: guitar; Pete Benson: organ, Hammond B3; George Fludas: drums.

Five Down Blues

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Kyle Asche Organ Trio - The Hook Up

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:55
Size: 115,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:00)  1. Tightrope
(6:36)  2. The Best Thing For You
(4:39)  3. Takala
(6:15)  4. For Those That Are There
(5:32)  5. For Mike
(7:16)  6. Hide Inside
(6:15)  7. Alfie
(6:19)  8. The Hook Up

Nothing says "jazz" like an organ trio, and nothing sounds "cooler." I mean dark sunglasses, tight black suit and skinny dark tie cool, maybe a cigarette dangling, like on some of those old Wes Montgomery album covers on Riverside. Chicago-based guitarist Kyle Asche fits very well into the Wes Montgomery sound, though the look has been updated suits have a more modern cut, with some color, and the ties are wider, and the cigarettes (thankfully) are nowhere to be seen. These are young guys Asche is 26 but they've absorbed the Montgomery/Grant Green organ trio sound and given it a modern twist, with some gritty sax work growling up from under the guitar/organ solos on four of the eight tunes. Asche penned six of the tunes on The Hook Up, some fine compositions that pay homage to the tradition. The group also covers Irving Berlin's "The Best Thing for You" and Burt Bacharach's "Alfie," the latter opening with an extended Asche solo, the group joining him a minute and half in, with the whisper of Pete Benson's B-3 and the soft hiss of Todd Howell's brushes on skin. It seems an unlkely vehicle for the organ trio, but they make the song theirs, and it's a nice change of pace from the bluesier tone of most of the rest of the recording. Tenor saxophonist Scott Burns joins the trio on four tunes, mixing up the group sound on a nicely-paced set, one played with a lot of soul, passion and an updated "coolness."~ Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-hook-up-oa2-records-review-by-dan-mcclenaghan.php

Personnel: Kyle Asche: guitar; Pete Benson: Hammond B-3 organ; Todd Howell: drums; Scott Burns: tenor saxophone.

The Hook Up

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